The beast has now approached the song’s protagonist and its power is on full display. However, beyond the physical damage an altered beast could cause, it speaks of how it desires to take over the human’s body and to live in their head. With a distinct 9/8 rhythm and riff akin to Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo à la Turk” “Altered Beast II” is one of, if not the most well known, part of “The Tale of the Altered Beast.”
In A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLANET EARTH the band is seen recording the song at Flightless HQ alongside live footage of the band playing the track. This footage would also appear in a promotional video for Murder of the Universe, which was released on June 23rd, 2017. A music video for “The Tale of the Altered Beast” was planned but never finished with footage making its way into promotional material and A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLANET EARTH.
The first known performance of “Altered Beast II” was on 2017-01-21 and it would be played heavily throughout 2017 in its usual album placement between “Alter Me I” and “Alter Me II” for a medley of “Altered Beast.” In 2018 this was shortened to just “Alter Me I” and “Altered Beast II.” This continued into 2019 with a new medley of “Altered Beast I” > “Alter Me I” > “Altered Beast II” also appearing. The song wouldn’t be seen again until 2022-10-05 and would appear a few times in album order with narration from Leah Senior. In 2023 the song returned to its 2019 form. As of writing, “Altered Beast II” is the most played of the four “Altered Beast” tracks.